Kakaako restaurants, where Honolulu goes after the beach
Kakaako dining — Ward Village, salt air, and the neighborhood that turned industrial lots into a dinner destination.
Kakaako is where Honolulu goes after the beach when it wants a neighborhood instead of a resort. Ward Village, salt air, warehouses that learned to host a dinner. The cooking here is often more ambitious than the strip — and you can still hear the city.
Industrial lots, a real bar program, a table that isn't performing for a balcony.
What Kakaako is good at
Modern Hawaiian-regional plates. A drink list that isn't a mai tai flight. Walkable dinner after a day in town. Merriman's Honolulu is the polished farm-to-table version — Peter Merriman helped invent that language in these islands.
When to go
Weeknights if you hate waiting. Weekends if you like a scene. Lunch if you're already at the waterfront. It is a short ride from Waikiki and a different city when you get there.
Your restaurant here. Banner, editorial, or a whole page. Get a listing
Questions people actually ask
What are the best restaurants in Honolulu right now?
It depends what you want the night to be. For Hawaiian food with history, Helena's Hawaiian Food in Kalihi is the reference point. For a Waikiki sunset, House Without a Key still does the thing people come to Hawaii hoping to feel. For a chef's counter, Chinatown's Senia is the reservation that takes planning.
What are the best restaurants in Waikiki?
Waikiki restaurants split into three buckets: oceanfront for the view, hotel dining that's actually good, and walkable casual rooms for breakfast and poke. If you only have one special dinner on the strip, book sunset and eat your ambitious meal somewhere quieter the next night.
Do I need a reservation at Honolulu restaurants?
For tasting menus, Saturday fine dining, and famous sunset rooms — yes, often a week out. For plate lunch, poke counters, food trucks, and most neighborhood lunch spots, no. Waikiki walk-ins are real at 5 p.m. and a fantasy at 7:15 p.m.
Is Honolulu expensive to eat in?
A plate lunch or food-truck meal still lands roughly $12–20. Casual sit-down runs $25–50 a person before drinks. Oceanfront dinner and tasting menus are special-occasion money. Honolulu is generous if you eat like a local at lunch and spend up once.
What Hawaiian food should I try in Honolulu?
Plate lunch (two scoops rice, mac salad, a protein), poke, kalua pig, lomi salmon, and poi. Helena's is the classic classroom.
Where do locals eat in Honolulu?
Kaimuki, Kapahulu, Kalihi, Chinatown, and Kakaako more than the Waikiki strip. Locals still eat in Waikiki — they just don't treat it as the whole city.
Restaurants: this page has open slots
From $25/month. Advertising inquiries: 1-800-481-8638
